There are several, but I would probably single out my dear friend and former colleague Laura Marquez. She was a terrific journalist — smart, kind, caring, and a total pro. She also faced the cancer that ultimately took her life with incredible grace and courage.

9. Name one before-your-time Bay Area news story you wish you could have covered.

Probably the great social upheaval and cultural changes of the Summer of Love, the first few years of the AIDS epidemic, and the Moscone-Milk murders—major moments in Bay Area television that were transformative I think.

10. What is your most embarrassing live news blooper? Can we find it on YouTube?

Didn’t you watch last night? There’s a new one every day. Fortunately, none have appeared on YouTube that I am aware of. I did get a really ridiculous nose bleed on the air a couple of nights ago and I actually had to leave during a commercial and deal with it. It wasn’t on the air thank goodness.

Dan Ashley anchors the ABC-7 news at 5, 6, 9 and 11 p.m. and has been reporting for the news station since 1995. Considering his serious news anchor persona, Ashley is delightfully candid and interesting in real life – thanks in large part to his fronting a rock band called PUSH and to the numerous bracelets peeking out from his dress shirt cuffs.

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The East Bay resident and father of two has reported from the Columbine tragedy and the White House, winning numerous awards for his work along the way. He also once judged a national anthem singing contest with us and was thrillingly tall and friendly in real life.

As a longtime presence on the televisions in so many Bay Area homes, we’ve chosen Dan Ashley to tackle this week’s 10 questions with a local. In it, Ashley reveals the local stories he wishes he could have covered, experience with stalkers, an on-air bloody nose, and a carb-based guilty pleasure.